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Around The World in Eighty Days

Level 1 Specification for Junior Cycle Short Course

May 2018

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Contents Short courses and Level 1 Learning Programmes 3

Rationale 5

Aim 6

Overview: Links 7

Overview: Course 11

Expectations for students 13

Learning outcomes 13

The progression continuum for L1LPs 13

Assessment and reporting 21

Classroom-Based Assessment 22

Classroom-Based Assessment: An excursion 22

Features of Quality 22

Inclusive assessment 23

Appendix A: Level indicators for Level 1 of the National Framework of Qualifications 24

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Short courses and Level 1 Learning

Programmes In the new junior cycle, students taking this short course should be following a personalised Level 1

Learning Programme (L1LP) alongside other curriculum components (from Level 1 and possibly one or

two from Level 2). The L1LPs are planned around a number of Priority Learning Units (PLUs) which

focus on developing the personal, social and practical skills of students. In addition to the Priority

Learning Units, students can study short courses with learning outcomes broadly aligned with the level

indicators for Level 1 of the National Framework of Qualifications (Appendix A).

The target group of students for whom L1LPs and Level 2 short courses have been developed are

typically students presenting with significant learning needs. Some of them will have had a formal

assessment by an educational psychologist which will have placed them in the low-moderate to

severe-profound categories of learning disability and they will have had a personalised learning plan

while in primary school. In this context, the L1LPs and short courses are designed for students who

would benefit from opportunities to improve learning and skills in areas such as elementary literacy

and numeracy, language and communication, mobility and leisure skills, motor co-ordination, and

social and personal development. The L1LPs also offer the chance for students to improve the length

of time they can concentrate on activities, along with their capacity to generalise and transfer

knowledge and skills across situations, and to process information from more than one sensory

channel.

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Introduction to junior cycle

Junior cycle education places students at the centre of the educational experience, enabling them to

actively participate in their communities and in society, and to be resourceful and confident learners

in all aspects and stages of their lives. Junior cycle is inclusive of all students and contributes to equality

of opportunity, participation and outcome for all.

Junior cycle allows students to make a strong connection with learning by focusing on the quality of

learning that takes place and by offering experiences that are engaging and enjoyable for them, and

relevant to their lives. These experiences are of a high quality, contribute to the physical, mental and

social wellbeing of learners, and where possible, provide opportunities for them to develop their

abilities and talents in the areas of creativity and enterprise. The student's junior cycle programme

builds on their learning in primary school. It supports their further progress in learning. It helps

students to develop the learning skills that can assist them in meeting the challenges of life beyond

school.

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Rationale

This short course builds on and promotes the development of a range of personal, social and practical

skills in the context of learning about the student’s place in their home, school and wider community.

It helps the student gain an understanding and knowledge of other countries and cultures and looks

at ways of accessing places in their locality and further afield. As well as content knowledge, students

develop essential skills such as those of communication and language; thinking and reasoning;

labelling; classifying; comparing and sequencing.

This short course places the student and their locality at the centre of learning. It begins by developing

skills and strategies for exploring places, people and amenities in the immediate environment. The

student progresses in gaining knowledge and experience which will further develop their

independence in relation to planning excursions.

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Aim

This short course aims to develop the student’s experience of independence in relation to travel. It

also develops knowledge, cognitive, social and practical skills. This is achieved in the context of

learning about their home, school and wider community, and through developing knowledge of other

cultures.

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Overview: Links

Tables 1 and 2 on the following pages show how Around the world in eighty days may be linked to

central features of learning and teaching in junior cycle.

Around the world in eighty days and statements of learning

Table 1: Links between Around the world in eighty days and the statements of learning

Statements of learning (SOL)

Statement Examples of related learning in the course

SOL 1: The student communicates effectively

using a variety of means in a range of contexts.

The student interacts and communicates with

familiar and unfamiliar people in their home,

school and wider community. The course

provides opportunities for the student to make

choices, name and identify people and objects

and document their learning through a variety

of means.

SOL 6: The student appreciates and respects

how diverse values, beliefs and traditions have

contributed to the communities and culture in

which he/she lives.

In strands 1 and 2, the student is immersed in

learning opportunities relating to the culture

and traditions of Ireland and those of another

country of their choice.

SOL 7: The student values what it means to be

an active citizen, with rights and responsibilities

in local and wider contexts.

In strand 1, the student will learn about their

home, school and wider community. He/she

will identify their family, peers and

professionals who help them. The student will

actively use amenities and facilities in their

local community.

SOL 23: The student brings an idea from

conception to realisation.

In strand 4, the student will use the knowledge

he/she has learned throughout the course to

choose, plan and prepare a trip to a local

landmark or area of interest.

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Around the world in eighty days and key skills and Priority Learning

Units

In addition to their specific content and knowledge, the subjects and short courses of junior cycle

provide students with opportunities to develop a range of key skills. The junior cycle curriculum

focuses on eight key skills.

Figure 1: Key skills of junior cycle

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There is an overlap between the learning in the PLUs with the key skills of junior cycle developed for

all students.

Table 2 below lists the PLUs, some elements of those PLUs and the sorts of associated learning

activities that will support students in achieving the learning outcomes and elements of the PLUs.

Teachers can also build many of the other elements of the key skills of junior cycle into their classroom

planning.

Table 2: Links between the Priority Learning Units (PLUs), elements of the PLUs and student learning

activity

PLU PLU element Student learning activity

Communication,

language and

literacy

Developing communicative

relationships

Exploring and using

The student interacts with family, peers, staff and

members of the local community.

Choices about destinations, modes of transport and

items to pack for the trip are made.

All five senses are used to explore sights, sounds,

tastes and textures of an unfamiliar country and

culture.

Personal care and

wellbeing

Self-awareness

Emotional wellbeing

The student identifies their needs and personal

requirements when planning a trip.

The student learns their value in their family, school

and community. They enjoy trips to local places or

further afield with people familiar to them.

Being part of a

community

Using local facilities

Transitioning between

environments

Collecting data and taking photographic evidence of

local amenities form part of the learning. The

student enhances their learning about what their

locality has to offer them.

The student navigates routes within their home

environs, school and classroom.

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The learning includes choosing methods of transport

to access destinations as well as identifying road

signs and markings.

Numeracy Foundational mathematical

activity

Developing number sense

Measure and data

Classification of plants, animals and foods is a

learning task for students of this course.

The student sorts modes of transport and

participates in packing a suitcase, taking into

account shape and capacity.

Identifying bus numbers, times of trains and costs of

tickets are all opportunities afforded by the course.

The student collects data and makes graphs on how

they and their peers travel to school and the

methods of transport they use.

The arts Visual art

Music

Drama

Creating structures and artwork of famous

landmarks from the student’s locality are possible

tasks, as is listening to traditional music from the

student’s chosen country.

The student role-plays the experience of travelling to

a different country by various modes of transport.

Physical education Movement skills

Creative movement

Transitioning to areas in the local community involve

movement skills.

The student performs simple traditional dance

routines from their country of choice.

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Overview: Course

The specification for this junior cycle short course Around the world in eighty days focuses on

developing cognitive, social and practical skills through four inter-connected strands. The four strands

presented here are: Home is where my heart is, A whole new world, Planes, trains and automobiles,

and Bon voyage. At all times, students are encouraged to develop independent living skills to the

greatest extent possible, which will serve them now and in the future.

Strand 1: Home is where my heart is. In this strand, students examine their place in their immediate

environment and local community. It involves identifying and recognising people in their

environment who help them and encourages research into local amenities that are accessible and

beneficial to the students.

Strand 2: A whole new world. This strand broadens the student’s knowledge of other countries and

cultures. Through cross-curricular learning they develop skills of listening, classifying and comparing

their own cultures to those of a contrasting country.

Strand 3: Planes, trains and automobiles. In this strand, students are introduced to the modes and

methods of transportation. There are opportunities for classifying, researching and data collection of

modes of transport of personal interest to the students.

Strand 4: Bon voyage. This strand enables students to build further on skills of communication as well

as those of thinking and reasoning. They learn about planning and preparing for trips outside of their

home and school. It enables them to work from a concept to a reality.

Practical, hands-on and problem-solving learning activities should be in evidence across all strands of

the course. A trip to a race track, airport, train station or other place of interest to the student is a

possibility, especially in either strand 3 or 4. Opportunities for reflection on learning should be offered

throughout the course as should the use of digital technologies.

The Classroom-Based Assessment outlined below reflects the learning students undertake in this

NCCA short course. Schools have the flexibility to adapt any NCCA-developed short course to suit their

particular needs and school context, with the exception of the Classroom-Based Assessment, which

all students taking this short course will complete. Schools may also develop their own short course(s)

and related Classroom-Based Assessment. Guidelines for schools who wish to develop their own short

courses are available at http://www.curriculumonline.ie/Junior-cycle/Junior-Cycle_Short-Courses.

http://www.curriculumonline.ie/Junior-cycle/Junior-Cycle_Short-Courses

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The learning outcomes in this short course are broadly aligned with the level indicators for Level 1 of

the National Framework of Qualifications (Appendix A).

The course has been designed for approximately 100 hours of student engagement.

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Expectations for students

Expectations for students is an umbrella term that links learning outcomes with annotated examples

of student work. For NCCA-developed short courses, in some cases examples of work associated with

a specific learning outcome or with a group of learning outcomes will be available. Schools who design

their own short courses may wish to create a bank of examples of student work for discussion and for

future reference.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are statements that describe what knowledge, understanding, skills and values

students should be able to demonstrate having completed this junior cycle short course Around the

world in eighty days. The learning outcomes set out in the following tables apply to all students and

represent outcomes for students at the end of their period of study (approximately 100 hours).

The outcomes are numbered within each strand. The numbering is intended to support teacher

planning in the first instance and does not imply any hierarchy of importance across the outcomes

themselves.

The progression continuum for L1LPs

The pprogression continuum (below) consists of seven pathways, which describe, in broad terms,

learning and development related to Level 1.

The pathways are written to reflect an order of progression, though these students do not always

develop intellectually or functionally in a linear fashion. Teachers can use the continuum to help them

understand how a student is functioning in respect of their learning. Students may be on different

pathways for different areas of learning or learning outcomes. The continuum supports teachers in

identifying the next appropriate pathway for students in their learning journeys.

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The progression continuum

PROGRESSION

PATHWAYS

The student…

EXPERIENCING

is present during a learning activity. S/he is awake and/or exposed to the learning environment. S/he is beginning to

acclimatise to the learning environment such as objects, people, sounds and other sensory experiences.

ATTENDING

becomes attentive to and/or engaged with the learning activities presented by changing gesture, posture, vocalisation,

eye gaze, movement etc. S/he is acclimatised to the learning environment.

RESPONDING

demonstrates capacity to actively or purposefully take an interest in the learning environment. S/he begins to indicate

likes, dislikes or preferences. S/he actively responds to a learning activity with or without support.

INITIATING

shows curiosity about the learning environment. S/he actively and independently seeks opportunities to engage with

and/or influence that environment.

ACQUIRING

demonstrates that knowledge, a concept or a skill is being learned. S/he explores and participates in the learning.

BECOMING

FLUENT

moves towards fluency and accuracy in familiar learning contexts. S/he independently and consistently demonstrates

recall mastery of the skill/concept/knowledge learned.

GENERALISING

transfers and applies learned skills, knowledge or concepts to familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

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Strand 1: Home is where my heart is

Students learn about

Learning outcomes

Students can

My home and my family 1.1 identify members of their family, using any form of

expression

1.2 recognise and/or respond to photographs of their family

as opposed to photographs of strangers

1.3 list the rooms in their homes and link rooms in their

home to activities that occur there

1.4 identify familiar objects from their home

1.5 construct a 2D/3D image of the external features of their

home

My school 1.6 list the different areas of the school/classroom and link

them with activities that occur there

1.7 separate activities that happen at home from those that

happen at school

1.8 identify familiar objects associated with the school

1.9 show recognition of staff and students at school through

any form of expression

1.10 navigate the route to their classroom and other areas of

the school, by any chosen means

My community and local

amenities

1.11 show recognition of places and people in the community

1.12 invite a member of the local community to come and

speak at their school

1.13 observe and participate in the collection and recording of

data of the amenities that students in their school use

Local places of interest/

famous landmarks

1.14 identify the local attractions and famous landmarks in

their home county

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1.15 choose an area of interest in the locality and participate in

discussions about it and/or visit that area

1.16 participate in an artistic piece of work relating to the

chosen landmark

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Strand 2: A whole new world

(For this strand students chose one country, with a contrasting culture to Ireland)

Students learn

about

Learning outcomes

Students can

Climates,

clothing and

cuisines

2.1 observe and participate in a sensory experience of the climate of

the chosen country, contrasting it to the climate of Ireland

2.2 differentiate between clothing that would be worn in hot and cold

climates

2.3 participate in researching traditional clothing worn in the chosen

country and discuss colours, textures and functions of the clothing

2.4 create a piece of artwork, using fabric and fibre, to represent the

traditional clothing

2.5 identify foods that are familiar to Ireland

2.6 experience new tastes and flavours and record their preferences

2.7 participate in preparing a traditional meal from the chosen country

Sights, songs

and sports

2.8 listen/view and respond to traditional music/songs (or videos

accompanying pop songs) from the chosen country, by creating a

piece of artwork, dance or drama

2.9 list the native landmarks of the chosen country, using any form of

text1

2.10 compare one or more of the landmarks of the chosen country with

one or more chosen in strand 1

2.11 participate in gathering information about special

occasions/sporting events from the chosen country

1 Text to include all products of language use: oral, gesture, sign, written, visual, electronic and digital.

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Plants and

animals

2.12 explore pictures of plants and trees native to the chosen country

2.13 create a piece of artwork depicting the terrain of the chosen

country

2.14 recognise and examine the characteristics of animals native to the

chosen country

2.15 visit a pet shop/farm/zoo and take photographic evidence of

animals they might find in their chosen country

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Strand 3: Planes, trains and automobiles

Students learn about

Learning outcomes

Students can

Modes and methods

of transport

3.1 list a variety of modes of transport and examine the features

and purpose of the vehicles

3.2 collect and record data on which modes of transport the

students use and have used in the past

History of transport 3.3 research and name animals that were used for transportation

3.4 find pictures of old cars and trains to compare with more

modern ones

3.5 create a timeline of the history of transportation

3.6 create a piece of artwork related to transport (a vehicle from

recyclable materials, a picture collage of famous vehicles from

movies)

Accessibility of

transport

3.7 record how they travel to school each day

3.8 participate in discussions about the safety features and

adaptations in vehicles

3.9 become aware that some transport has cost involved and

research the costs for local buses and trains

3.10 identify road signs and road markings, and take photographic

evidence of them in the local community

3.11 travel on a public mode of transport with assistance

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Strand 4: Bon voyage

Students learn

about

Learning outcomes

Students can

Venturing further

afield

4.1 choose a destination from strand 1 or 2 and identify what to expect

when they arrive there

4.2 create a social story using any form of text in preparation for the

excursion

4.3 participate in mapping routes and identifying modes of transport

needed to reach the chosen destination

4.4 explore the costs involved in transport, tickets and food for the trip

4.5 identify suitable clothing and essential personal items required for

the trip and participate in packing a bag

4.6 explore relevant travel documents required for local/foreign travel

4.7 participate in a real/virtual journey to a foreign country

4.8 participate in a sensory experience of that country

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Assessment and reporting

Essentially, the purpose of assessment and reporting at this stage of education is to support learning.

This short course supports a wide variety of approaches to assessment. Some learning outcomes lend

themselves to once-off assessment, others to assessment on an ongoing basis as students engage in

different learning activities such as discussing, making choices, planning, taking action and, at an

appropriate level, finding out information. In these contexts, students with their teachers and peers

reflect upon and make judgements about their own and others’ learning by looking at the quality of

particular pieces of work (according to their ability). They plan the next steps in their learning, based

on feedback they give and receive. Ongoing assessment can support the student in their learning

journey and in preparing for the Classroom-Based Assessment related to this short course.

It is envisaged that students will provide evidence of their learning in a variety of ways, including digital

media, audio recordings and written pieces.

Assessment is most effective when it moves beyond marks and grades and reporting focuses not just

on how the student has done in the past but on the next steps for further learning. Student progress

and achievement in short courses, both in ongoing assessments and in the specific Classroom-Based

Assessment relating to this short course will be communicated to parents in interim reporting and in

the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA). To support teachers and schools, an Assessment

Toolkit is available online. The Assessment Toolkit will include learning, teaching, assessment and

reporting support material.

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Classroom-Based Assessment

Classroom-Based Assessments are the occasions when the teacher assesses the students in the

specific assessment(s) that are set out in the subject or short course specification. Junior cycle short

courses will have one Classroom-Based Assessment.

Classroom-Based Assessment: An excursion

This Classroom-Based Assessment is the culmination of the work undertaken in the four strands of the

Around the world in eighty days short course. The Classroom-Based Assessment should begin after

work in the four strands has been completed.

The planning and preparation for an actual trip to an area in the local or wider community will give

the student the opportunity to use skills they have learned throughout the short course. The choice

of destination will be an area of interest the student has chosen from strand 1. The student will

research and decide on modes of transport, calculate the cost involved and identify essential items

required for the excursion. It may require collaboration with others to research, find information, plan

and organise the excursion. It builds confidence, develops independent living skills and encourages

social interaction with others. It may also provide an opportunity to demonstrate skills in working with

digital technology.

Features of Quality

The Features of Quality support student and teacher judgement of the Classroom-Based Assessment

and are the criteria that will be used by teachers to assess students’ Classroom-Based Assessments.

More detailed material on assessment and reporting in this junior cycle short course, including

Features of Quality and details of the practical arrangements related to assessment of this Classroom-

Based Assessment, will be available in separate assessment guidelines for Around the world in eighty

days.

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Inclusive assessment

Inclusive assessment practices, whether as part of ongoing assessment or the Classroom-Based

Assessments, are a key feature of teaching and learning in schools. Accommodations, e.g. the support

provided by a special needs assistant or the support of assistive technologies, should be in line with

the arrangements the school has put in place to support the student’s learning throughout the year.

Where a school judges that a student has a specific physical or learning difficulty, reasonable

accommodations may be put in place to remove, as far as possible, the impact of the disability on the

student’s performance in the Classroom-Based Assessment.

Accommodations which enable all students to access curriculum and assessment are based on specific

needs. For example, a student who cannot physically type may use free dictation software to complete

ongoing assessments and the Classroom-Based Assessment. Equally, a student who cannot speak may

sign/draw/write/type/create visuals and subtitles to present and communicate ideas. A student with

a specific learning difficulty may benefit from having learning tasks and activities presented in a

different way. Comprehensive guidelines on inclusion in post-primary schools are available here and

guidelines for teachers of students with general learning disabilities are available here.

http://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/InclusiveEducationFramework_InteractiveVersion.pdfhttp://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Inclusion/Special_Educational_Needs/Download_Special_Educational_Needs_Guidelines/Guidelines_for_teachers_of_students_with_general_learning_disabilities.html

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Appendix A: Level indicators for Level 1 of the

National Framework of Qualifications

This short course has been developed in broad alignment with the level indicators for Level 1 of the

National Framework of Qualifications.

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